Commission on Small Arms identifies porous borders, and conflict entrepreneurs as causes of the proliferation of illicit arms.

Gyebi Asante, the deputy director of the National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons, asserted that Ghana’s porous borders are a factor in the spread of illicit weapons throughout the nation.

According to Mr. Asante, porous borders allow for the influx of weaponry from nearby wars into the country.

Speaking on Thursday, July 27, on the Ghana Tonight program on TV3, he also mentioned that there are war entrepreneurs out there who are funding illicit weaponry.

“When you observe the types of weapons that our youngsters are utilizing, you may be curious about their origins. You understand that, particularly in the North where we have some of these battles, they are near to the borders, and given how permeable our borders are, that is how some of these advanced weaponry get to enter the nation, he said.

“What we discovered is that these weapons are not weapons that these young men purchased themselves,” he continued.

“We realized that some of the conflict appears to be between entrepreneurs, and there are some people involved in this conflict because of personal interests.”

His remarks follow the police’s arrest of 14 suspects in connection with a fight that left two people dead at Mpameso Forest near Dormaa Ahenkro in the Bono Region on July 25, 2023, and the recovery of the suspects’ firearms.

Seidu Sulemana, Kwabena Yeboah, Sulley Alhassan, Enoch Opoku, Ibrahim Issah, Obeng Richard, and Ibrahim Adams are the suspects. Hafiz Mohammed, Fuseini Mohammed, Abbas Abukari, Alhassan Razak, Fuseini Shaibu, Addai Gyebi, and Abubakari Issahaku are the suspects.

An investigation by the police indicates that they shot the two victims during the altercation when they were manning a wood concession in the Mpameso Forest.

Following their arrest, a search of them turned up eight (8) pump action guns, a cutlass, and a knife.

All suspects are currently being held by the police as part of the investigation and will appear in court today, July 27, 2023, to answer for their crimes.

Source: 3News.com